Eldh Protests The Cabinet For İts Postponement Of The Metal Strikes

European Association of Lawyers for Democracy & World Human Rights (ELDH) urged the Turkish government to withdraw the decree postponing the strike in the metal industry and to create a proper environment whereby free collective bargaining negotiations can take place.

ELDH was severely concerned to learn that your Cabinet has postponed, "in reality banned" the strikes in the metal industry covering 38 companies that Birleşik Metal-İş partly had launched on 29 January and would start on 19 February 2015 in ten different cities of Turkey, Thomas Schmidt, Secretary General of ELDH said in a letter, sent to Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu.

"It is unbelievable that your Cabinet is banning the strikes on account of 'national security' as stated in the decree published in the Official Gazette from 30 January and without giving any reason for this decision" he said and added:

"We vehemently protest this act to ban these legitimate strikes. We do consider that this is a clear violation of the right to strike, which is one of the fundamental rights of workers, guaranteed by the Constitution of Turkey as well as international conventions--ratified by your Government--and the jurisprudence of the International Labour Organization (ILO)."

Even the council of state has asked the government to clarify the reasons for suspending a strike by steel workers, questioning the nature of the "national security" concerns behind the cabinet decision, Schmidt pointed out, that the Turkish Government had to know that its decision to ban the strikes constituted a breach of international labour norms and standards as defined in articles 53rd, 54th and 55th of the Turkish Constitution and in the ILO Convention No. 87.

"I would like to recall you that the very same ILO Committee noted with regret the decision of the Council of Ministers to suspend a strike on grounds of national security, without any apparent relationship between the industries in question (tire, glass, municipality services and state-run undertakings) and national security."

Fundamental workers' rights, particularly the right to strike, were no longer respected in Turkey, Schmidt said in his letter, which was also sent to Minister of Labour and Social Security of Turkey Faruk Çelik and ILO Director-GeneralGuy Ryder.

"We receive daily reports of brutal labour rights violations being committed in Turkey. Another example are the incidents in the mining sector in Turkey. This must come to an end. Therefore, ELDH calls on the Turkish Government to respect in full fundamental workers' rights" Schmidt added. - Istanbul